Come With Me In the Twilight
by NKfloofiepoof
Summary: After the destruction of the Photosphere, the Dream Chasers split up to search for clues on where to start next. Rudy is captured by Boomerang, uncertain of what fate befalls him in the hands of the demon. Well, how about starting with a bedtime story?


A/N: First off, if you recognize me from my old WA stories several years ago...my god, you poor person. Hopefully, this will be a Damn Lot better than that old shit. **Suggestions for chapter titles are more than welcome.**

Blah, blah, this contains spoilers, so if you haven't at least played the original, don't blame me if you end up finding out something you wanted to see for yourself in the game. There are also some spoilers for the remake (Wild ARMs Alter Code F), but not too many (trust me, it's not that different). Yes, I know the Twin Orbs don't exist in the remake. I liked them too much to leave them out. So mnyah. Yes, I know Boomerang probably isn't in character completely - sue me. I've never been able to keep him in character (never have been good with the stoic types). As for his design, I picture him a mix of the designs from both versions of the game - his armor and helmet from the original game with the torn-off-sleeves trench coat from the remake. Don't like it? Tough - he's my humppuppy, not yours.

And don't get started with me on the Saint Centour vs. Saint Centaur issue. I call it Saint Centour, wrong or not. Get over it.

Also, yes, this will eventually contain scenes with the big Y word (yaoi). It's consensual (at least, I haven't heard Rudy complain), but if it bugs/sickens you, then either skip over those scenes or get lost. Flames will be fed to Bob, my poodle. She likes spicy food.

----

Explosions deafened him as they shook the floors and the walls, vibrations sent up his legs to make his teeth chatter until he clenched his jaw shut tightly. He saw cracks spread across the window-like surface of the floor like the tendrils of a hungry creature reaching out to ensnare its prey as violet blood coated it, dripping slowly through the cracks. The owner of the blood could not be seen, but he heard her laughing -- that horrible, blood-chilling laugh he hoped to never hear again. It echoed off the walls, bubbling up from the blood as it flowed in his direction.

The floor was shaken by another concussion, this one stronger than the last. It sent him to his knees as the floor began cracking underneath him. His knee rested atop a spider web of fractures which spread outward in a spiral around him. When his knee went through the buckling glass, the violet fluid bubbled up from the new hole, soaking through the knee of his jeans before he had a chance to jerk away. He stumbled away only to be thrown onto his back by another explosion closer than the last two. He felt the glass buckle underneath himself and winced when a few shards cut through his vest and tore into his skin.

_ Come with me..._ the blood rasped as it bubbled up next to his ear. He jerked upright in an attempt to escape it and the laugh accompanying it, looking around the darkening room frantically -- where were Jack and Cecilia?

_ Come with me..._ that voice repeated as he backed against the wall. The entire floor was coated with blood by now, welling up from the center of the room. His boots were covered in it as the fluid flowed back and forth over them, his heart pounding in his chest. The blood rose in the center of the room, beginning to take the form of the owner which he and his friends had killed, or so they thought. That horrible laugh clawed at his ears once more, forcing him to cover his ears with his hands and double over, curling in on himself in an attempt to escape. He stared at his boots and the swaying blood, watching how it rippled like the ocean when calm, swaying like water on the deck of a ship.

_ Rudy..._ He started to shiver as he dared to bring his gaze back up from his feet, red eyes widening as the owner of the voice surged toward him in a deep purple, bloody mass, its eyes and mouth wide open to engulf him.

His scream died in his throat as he realized no one could hear him anyway.

----

Rudy bolted upright with a gasp, his eyes darting to and from the corners and shadows and window of his cabin. His heart pounded against his ribs, and his lungs frantically tried to draw in air to calm his nerves. He slowly raised a shaking hand to rub his face as he whispered to himself, "Just a dream...just a dream..." It was the same dream he had slept through over the past three days -- ever since the Photosphere sank to the bottom of the Inner Sea after he, Jack, and Cecilia killed Mother the demon queen. She had died with the destruction of the Photosphere, but the remaining demons suvived and still threatened Filgaia as they discovered during their premature celebration aboard the _Sweet Candy_ only three days ago. They were still onboard the ship on their way back to Adlehyde to restock supplies and determine where they needed to go next. They had no leads at all, but they needed to determine their next move as soon as possible. The demons were already two steps ahead of them.

"Rudy!" a female voice called from the other side of the closed door. "You decent?" He shook his head -- with wording like that, it had to be Jane.

"No -- just a second," he answered and climbed out of bed to pull his shirt and jeans on. His vest was still tacky with Mother's blood and probably was not salvageable. After a moment, he opened the door, holding his red bandana in his mouth as he tried to adjust his shirt with his free hand. "What is it?"

"Cecilia said to start getting ready to go," Jane answered between strokes of her brush through her hair. "The lookout said he sees Adlehyde, and we should be there in about three or four more hours."

Rudy frowned, pulling the bandana from his mouth so he could voice his confusion. "If I've got three or four hours, why does she want me to get ready _now_?" Jane just shrugged.

"I'm not any happier about it than you are -- I wanna sleep some more!" She shook her head and pointed one finger into Rudy's chest. "But if _I_ have to get up, you sure as hell aren't going to get to sleep late! Bleh!" She stuck her tongue out at him and turned to leave, snarling at a particularly stubborn tangle in her hair.

Once he finished pulling his boots on, Rudy made his bed and started down the hallway toward the _Sweet Candy_'s makeshift kitchen. Cecilia had been doing the cooking for the past several weeks ever since Bartholomew had placed his ship under their command so to speak. Jack had been skeptical about the princess-almost-queen's ability to cook without her castle servants behind her to show her what utensils were for which task. A kick to the knee and three bowls of five alarm chili later, he decided it was better her cooking than anyone else's.

Breakfast consisted of dry bacon, a few chunks of bland cheese, some nearly stale biscuits, and a hearty round of whining and complaints from the sailors discussing how Bartholomew should have restocked food supplies the last time they were docked at Adlehyde. Bartholomew, of course, countered the complaints by claiming to have not known they would be away from a port for this long despite the fact that he had planned the final departure from Adlehyde in full and should have forseen the shortage of decent food. To this, his sailors all pointed at him and accused him of restocking but eating or hiding it all so they would have to eat the "crap not fit for a dung beetle".

Rudy stopped listening after that.

"Y'know, I'll bet you're right!" Jane suddenly piped up, deciding to go with the accusations which were becoming more and more ridiculous and silly as the minutes passed. "I mean, look at that belly of his!" She punctuated her exclamation by poking Bartholomew in the belly the same way she had Rudy's chest earlier. "He probably shoved it all in his cabin and ate it before we even left the port!"

"Yeah!" the sailors voiced in agreement. Bartholomew sputtered and waved his hands as he shook his head, becoming more and more flustered by the minute.

"I did not! How could I eat that much food in the first place?!" he countered.

"So you admit restocking!" Jack joined in. Cecilia was starting to choke on her bacon as she tried her best not to laugh.

Rudy was starting to wonder if he should get out of there before he was dragged into the nonsense as well.

"I do not!" Bartholomew flailed his arms pitifully. "Why is everyone against me all of a sudden?!"

"Because you're a food thief!" Cecilia finally remarked as she joined in as well.

"Nooo!"

"Yeees!"

Bartholomew bunched up his shoulders and grabbed one of the biscuits from his plate as he snapped in response, "I'll make you think before you wrongfully accuse me again! I'll _show_ you a food thief!" Tossing aside the fact that his last statement made no sense at all, his three sailors stuck their tongues out at him.

By the time the food fight started, Rudy was long gone.

----

The cobblestone streets of Adlehyde were still broken and scattered with scorched stones littering the dirt patches between the pathways through the city, new grass finally beginning to grow through the soil. The steady thrumming of hammers falling rhythmically onto nails echoed throughout the recovering city as roofs were repaired by Tom and his team of volunteer carpenters from around the continent. Sorceresses-in-training from Curan Abbey walked around the city, healing carpenters' injuries and boosting the spirits of the residents of Adlehyde. The castle was still partially blackened on the outside, a painful reminder of the massacre just over a month past. The demon responsible -- Belselk -- had disappeared a few weeks past just after the incident in Volcannon Trap, not that they were complaining. After fighting him three times, Cecilia hoped to never see the monster again.

"Okay," Cecilia spoke as she turned to face her companions when they reached the center of town, tearing herself away from such depressing thoughts. "We know the demons are still out there, and they're already ahead of us -- too far ahead for comfort. But we don't have a clue where to attack next."

"She is right," McDullen, Jane's butler and bodyguard (although she would never admit the latter), spoke in agreement, his face blank as always. "There is no telling where they may strike next."

"Exactly." Cecilia nodded and looked to her other companions. "So, before we sit down and get comfortable, does anyone have any ideas? At all?" Uncertain and confused expressions were exchanged between all present as they tried to think over their options. None sounded feasible or rational enough to share with the princess-almost-queen.

Finally, Hanpan spoke as he crawled out from under Jack's collar, "I have an idea." His ears twitched as all eyes turned to him. "Well, there's no sense in staying in one spot and chasing our tails. I think we should all split up and search for clues, listen for rumors. Maybe someone can look at some maps and make a list of suspicious-looking islands or sections of land -- remote locations where they could hide easily. Then we just have to investigate those areas and -- ack!" Hanpan yelped as he was plucked from Jack's shoulder and smothered in Cecilia's ecstatic embrace.

"I love you, you little blue rat!"

"Mouse!"

"That sounds like a good plan to me," Jack spoke, ignoring his companion's squeals as he was crushed by the princess-almost-queen. "I can do the scouting while everyone else listens for rumors."

Jane jerked a thumb to herself as she piped in, "McDullen and I can take the ship and ask around Rosetta and the 'yard."

"If it weren't for that whirlpool, we could get to Port Timney," Cecilia added with a sigh.

"I could go to Milama," Rudy finally spoke. "And while I'm there, I can take the Elw Pyramid to Port Timney." He hesitated just a few seconds before quickly adding. "But please don't crush me, Cee." Cecilia blushed and finally stopped hugging Hanpan who slumped overdramatically.

Handing the squashed mouse back to Jack, Cecilia turned her attention fully to the matter at hand. "I can camp out in the castle library and look at maps. I know where they all are. But Rudy, are you sure you'll be okay by yourself?"

Rudy arched an eyebrow, his amusement just barely showing as he retorted, "I may not be as old as Zippy over here, but I can take care of myself."

"Zippy?!"

"Now, Jack..." Hanpan coaxed, tugging on his companion's ponytail.

"If you insist..." Cecilia reluctantly agreed. She did not like the thought of Rudy traveling by himself, especially so close to the hazardous desert near Port Timney, but, she reminded herself, Rudy was a Dream Chaser long before she knew him -- he was used to traveling alone after his grandfather Zepet passed away and, indeed, knew how to take care of himself.

"Well, he could've called you Gramps, old man!" Jane added with a grin.

"_Gramps_?! I'm not even thirty!"

"Jack!" Hanpan hissed.

"Well, you're still the oldest out of all of us!"

"What about McDullen?! He's gotta be fifty at least!"

"He doesn't count."

"And why doesn't he?"

"He's McDullen!"

"What-?!"

"_Jack!_"

Cecilia brushed her bangs out of her face and spoke once more to the two present who were actually paying attention to her, "Well, then I guess we'd better get started. Let's all stay in the castle for the next day or two and restock supplies while Bartholomew's restocking the _Sweet Candy_. I've got plenty of maps for everyone to take along with them."

McDullen replied, "If possible, my lady and I can try to go to Saint Centour as well and search for clues there which may have been left behind by the demon who killed everyone."

Cecilia shook her head. "No, I think Jack can handle that. You two will have your hands full with Rosetta and the Ship Graveyard. I just wish we could get to Baskar again -- the chief might have an idea of where we need to go next." She looked down at the ground forlornly. "It doesn't help that I can't hear the Guardians anymore...I'm sure _they_ know where we need to go..."

"Then let's get started," Rudy responded. "We've got to work as fast as we can." Cecilia nodded and took off running toward the castle, Rudy right behind her while McDullen stayed behind to attempt to break up the brawl left in their wake.

"Old faaart!"

"Stuck up brat!"

"JACK!"

----

A little voice in Rudy's head told him he would regret it if he ate all of his food before he even reached the Mountain Pass.

He told the little voice to screw off -- he liked apples.

The little voice later gained revenge with the help of his rebellious stomach.

Rudy coughed as he finished rinsing the aftertaste out of his mouth of being sick, sighing. He had left Adlehyde just three days prior and judged he was probably only another day away from the Mountain Pass if the looming mountains in the distance were any indication. Then, it was just another three days through the Pass and to Milama. The sun was already beginning to set, so he gathered a few fallen limbs and a handful of dry leaves to make a small fire, just enough to warm his hands before he unpacked his bed roll.

As he stared into the fire, he could only hope the demons stayed quiet and out of the way until he and the others figured out where to look next. It was almost too much to hope for, he knew, but hoping certainly could not hurt, and if Zephyr, the Guardian of Hope, had a shred of power remaining, maybe -- just maybe -- his prayer would be answered.

After another moment of sitting by the fire, he returned to the stream where he had left his pack to retrieve his bed roll; however, as he knelt beside the water, a hint of movement caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Without moving, he slid his gaze slightly to the right and glanced into the stream, watching the water's reflection of the woods and the darkening sky. The reflection seemed harmless enough, showing him a backdrop of trees and shrubs with leaves beginning to darken with rapid onset of autumn. What interested him was what was not immediately obvious -- a barely noticable glint, almost lost in the leaves.

Rudy reacted as fast as he could, quickly grabbing his ARM from his pack as he spun on his heel to aim into the trees. The weapon was knocked aside just as he fired and wrestled from his grip by a flash of blue-violet, and a furred tail wisked out of sight as his momentum sent him crashing to the ground on his side. As he scrambled back to his feet, he heard his assailant drop the ARM against the rocks, freeing its maw for another attack, and his hand darted to his hip, quickly unsheathing his dagger. He swung upwards in a slashing arc as white fangs snapped at his face too close for comfort, and the attacker was knocked backwards in a splash of black blood before the body disappeared in a flash. Rudy snarled as his heart pounded in his chest, straining to hear anything unusual. He knew it was not over -- where ever the Guardian of Desire made an appearance, her demonic partner was not far behind.

A whisper of disturbed leaves captured his attention, and he whirled around and brought up his dagger to block the deadlier weapon which tried to strike him down, his arm straining against the owner's strength. He could see the fear and surprise in his own eyes reflected by the demon's visor and could almost feel the demon's amused grin as his heart pounded harder and harder against his ribs. He was only barely able to defeat Boomerang at the Epitaph tower two weeks past with the help of Jack and Cecilia -- how in the names of all the Guardians was he supposed to succeed alone?

Rudy managed to push the demon back by sheer power of panic alone, giving himself just enough of an opening to bolt back to the trees by the stream. A faint _whoosh_ing sound forced him to dive to the ground seconds before the demon's weapon swooped overhead, even with where his neck had once been, and sailed back to its owner who caught it effortlessly. Panicking further, Rudy sent out a silent command as he glanced in the direction of his pack, beckoning his new ARM to come to his aid.

Boomerang raised his arm to let the Sabre Fang fly once more but hesitated when he spotted movement, a small stir inside the human's pack. He blinked in surprise behind his visor, caught off guard when two small, round spheres floated out of the bag, willed to life by their new owner who had found them deep within the bowels of the Photosphere. Upon detecting their master's enemy, spikes extended all over the surface of each sphere, and they began to spin, becoming a whirl of spinning blades before they dove at Boomerang, splitting up to attack him from both sides.

While the demon was distracted by the Twin Orbs, Rudy scrambled to his other ARM -- the one which Luceid had snatched from his grip. As he picked it up and began to reload it with one hand, his other hand fumbled in his pockets for the cartridge he needed -- any cartridge, actually, as long as it could drive off the visored demon -- and when his hand closed around one, he ripped it free and quickly snapped it into place, breathing a small sigh of relief when he realized which one he had found. The Gatling Raid cartridge would certainly come in useful now -- he had used it weeks before in the Photosphere to cleave one of Mother's bodyguards in half with a spray of bullets. He only hoped his aim remained as true against Boomerang.

Boomerang, however, was not amused. While the Twin Orbs proved to have an extremely predictable and easy-to-dodge pattern of attacking, it was highly annoying having to continually sidestep around and step over them. "You know, I have better things to do than entertain your new pets," he remarked with a snort. He looked up and blinked behind his visor when he found himself looking at Rudy's ARM as it was aimed at him. He would not have worried if he did not recognize the circular attachment snapped to the bullet carriage. "O...kay. Shit."

Boomerang dove to the side to avoid the spray of bullets which arced toward him. The Twin Orbs also bolted away to avoid being struck down by their master's assault. Rudy had to lock one leg behind himself to keep from being blown back by the Gatling Raid cartridge's kick, but he almost did anyway when the ARM abruptly ceased its fire, having run out of bullets. Panicking, he fumbled at his belt for another clip, but Boomerang tackled him to the ground and threw the weapon aside before he gripped one wrist in each hand and sat on the human's thighs, firmly pinning him to the ground.

"Okay," Boomerang spoke after a brief moment. "I will admit you almost got me there. Don't do it again."

Rudy scowled at the visored demon as he struggled in vain. "Oh, I'll be sure to." He grinned, determined to go down a pain in the ass if not go down fighting. "After all, you wouldn't have jumped like a scared rabbit if it wouldn't have done the job." That earned him a very sore cheek and possibly a loose tooth. Rudy decided he probably deserved it on some level. He also decided he did not care. "What do you want?" the human demanded instead after deciding antagonizing the demon would probably not be the best idea.

"Oh, you'll see," was the demon's only response before he lashed out once more and Rudy was surrounded by darkness.

Rudy awoke slowly to find that his neck was really sore from being in one position for too long, his chin resting on his chest. Something was pressing against his chest and arms, and he could feel the rough bark of a tree at his back as well as something very hard and uncomfortable pressed against his backside. He opened one eye to determine -- yes, damn it, he was tied to a tree. He squirmed against the ropes, but the only thing he was able to accomplish was dislodging the tree's root from his backside. At least he was more comfortable now if nothing else.

Looking around quickly to assess his situation, he tried to work one hand free of the ropes only to realize his hands were also tied together behind his back. _Okay, now I'm just getting mad._ He growled and pulled at the ropes securing him to the tree, pushing against them in an attempt to lean forward to snap them, but there were too many, and they were wrapped around him too tightly. He looked up sharply when he heard footsteps approaching and snarled in Boomerang's general direction as he kicked his feet pitifully, "Let me go!"

"Hmm...no," Boomerang answered as he stepped into view, his hands on his hips and Luceid at his heel. She trotted over to a pile of leaves and sticks directly in front of Rudy and snorted, using her magic to light the campfire which she then curled up beside. Boomerang sat next to her, across the fire from the human glaring at him and probably fantasizing many gruesome deaths for him.

"What the hell do you want me for?" Rudy demanded, still pulling at the ropes binding his wrists even as they started to burn his skin and rub it raw. "You could have easily killed me while I was unconscious -- why didn't you?" He could almost feel the demon's grin behind that black visor.

"The time has come," Boomerang said, "to talk of many things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax -- of cabbages and kings, and why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings!"

Rudy's struggles ceased for a moment.

"Are you drunk?"

Once again, even though he could not see it, he knew the demon was giving him a look behind that damnable black visor. This time, Rudy suspected it was less of a glare and more of an admonishing, you-stupid-child look.

"It's pitiful when a demon knows more about human literature than a human does," Boomerang responded. Rudy wondered if he should feel insulted.

Instead, he stamped one foot as well as he could on the ground and demanded once more, "What do you _want_?!" He was growing angrier and angrier the more he realized his behavior was only amusing the bastard across from him. However, he finally received an answer.

"You interest me," Boomerang responded, resting his chin in one hand which was propped upon an upraised knee. "I don't recall ever fighting anyone -- or any_thing_ for that matter -- quite like you before. You're the first one to actually deliver a decent hit to me in quite some time."

"You ambushed me because I shot you in the ass? Wow." Rudy jerked his foot back before a burning log was shoved through the fire at it. Okay, maybe annoying the demon was not exactly the best way to get out of this situation. _But, damn it, his attitude's pissing me off!_

"It's been a long time since I've had a worthy challenge," Boomerang continued, pretending he did not hear the human's previous comment although he had to threaten Luceid with the same piece of burning kindling when she started snickering in that strange way dogs do. She knew the statement was not true, but the image was too amusing to resist. "I'm simply doing a little observation work. But that can wait until tomorrow." He did not feel like doing anything else that night, so he lay down and rolled over with his back to Rudy, one arm underneath his head as a pillow. He could still feel the human glaring at his back.

"How rude," Rudy scoffed, determined to not let his kidnapper sleep peacefully. "No bedtime story or anything?"

Boomerang glanced over his shoulder, a quizzical expression hidden behind his visor. "A bedtime story? And here I thought you were older than that." However, much to Rudy's surprise, the demon sat back up, tapping his fingers together as he glanced up at the sky, thinking. "Let's see...oh yes. The sun was shining on the sea, shining with all its might. It did its very best to make the billows smooth and bright -- and this was odd because it was the middle of the night."

"Are you sure you're not drunk?"

"Do you want me to tell this story or not?"

"I'm beginning to wonder..." Rudy scowled mostly to himself. Boomerang was just as annoying as he was trying to be -- the last thing he had expected was to be taken seriously.

"Let's see...what was that next line? Oh yeah -- The moon was shining sulkily because it thought the sun had no business to be there after the day was done. 'It's very rude of him,' she said, 'to come and spoil the fun!' The--"

"What the hell?"

"Are you going to interrupt me after every stanza? The sea was wet as wet could be, the sands were dry as dry--"

"Gee, I wonder why."

"--you could not see a cloud because no cloud was in the sky; no birds were flying overhead -- there were no birds to fly."

"What, did Luceid eat them all?" Rudy decided he probably deserved that bite on the ankle.

"The Walrus and the Carpenter were walking close at hand--"

"What in _hell_?"

"Okay, since you obviously don't like that one, what story do _you_ want to hear?"

Rudy blinked, caught off guard by that question. "Well, not something about cabbages." Despite that damnable visor, he could tell Boomerang was looking at him expectantly. "Um..." Rudy frowned. He had started this, and the demon obviously was not going to let him back out of it. _Annoying bastard..._ "Fine. Zeikfried said you're all from another planet. Tell me something about that."

"Hmm!" was Boomerang's response. "Something about Haides, huh...I'm sure I can think of something."


End file.
